Post a reply

Overcoming a ‘Leadership Bottleneck’ in a Buddies Day Program

These are a few thoughts on how we might prevent a ‘leadership bottleneck’ from limiting our Buddies Day programs. The problem in brief is that we can often find the volunteers but it is hard to find enough who are willing to take on leadership roles. How might we prevent or overcome this problem? At the moment I can think of two broad problems and how they might be addressed.

Problem 1: Not Enough Support and Structure

Do existing leaders need more support? Perhaps we have left the leaders alone too early and not accompanied them to the stage where they are ready. Part of this can be not spending enough time building a team of leaders. Are we expecting too much of them so that prospective leaders back off? How should we conceive of the role of staff? What is the nature of the ongoing support which might be needed?

As a general attitude it is best to hold off as long as possible coming to the conclusion that the problem is ‘slackness’ among the volunteers. It is true that greater commitment can help overcome a lot of these other limitations, but it is generally unhelpful to interpret the problem in that way. It is best to look first at all the factors which might have a bearing on the situation, and emphasise the positive as much as possible.

From a staff point of view we might want to leave the job to others as soon as possible so we can move on to other areas, groups etc. It is a matter of trying to find the right balance. We won’t always get it right, but we can learn from it. It takes time to nurture leaders, and those taking on the biggest responsibility need most support, or they will get burnt out.

The following is a brainstorm of some strategies that might work. It implies a role for staff in guiding and accompanying this overall process:

• To introduce some new leaders to the role, work with 2-3 leaders to organise a smaller buddies day.
  
  
• Develop a team structure for buddies days, so that for example, if you have 16 kids you have four teams each with four big and four little buddies, and each team has a team leader. This involves more volunteers and gives them a chance to learn a fairly simple leadership role.
  
  
• At a larger buddies day have two teams organising half each, as far as finding kids and volunteers and organising the administration. They could look after two different geographical areas.
  
  
• Establish two buddies day programs instead of one by giving each a different centre or location. (This could evolve out of the previous point.)
  
  
• Have an expanded leadership team with smaller roles for each person.
  
  
• Develop a ‘support network’ of volunteers who focus on providing administrative, recruiting, training support.
  
  
• Sit down with current staff and key leaders and identify 10-12 volunteers who seem to have the potential for more, and try to devise an individualised plan to draw each of them into more involvement suited to their natural interests. Perhaps design special roles to make use of particular talents.

Problem 2: Not Deepening the Engagement of Volunteers

I think the main problem in the ‘leadership bottleneck’ has more to do with not deepening the engagement of the volunteers. If the work itself and their kind of involvement remain static they are likely to lose interest after a while. A big part of the challenge is to sustain the momentum of learning and deepening involvement. This means a range of things:

1. Firstly, it is simply taking on a leadership role as a step up from being a ‘big buddy’. It is good to develop a ‘team leader’ structure as a first step. Then the next step up is to an overall leadership role, either on the day itself, or in the planning and preparation.
   
   
2. The buddies day activities themselves need to become more intentionally focused on personal interaction rather than on the ‘event’ itself and its attractions. If the whole appeal of the days from the children’s point of view is the outing itself, in the sense of unusual and stimulating activities they would never otherwise experience, we downplay the personal interaction which is potentially the most valuable part of the days. Then it is not only the volunteers who can become jaded but the kids too.
   
   
3. An organised training program can provide a pathway for those interested in deepening their involvement a way to get a taste of it without having to commit. At the same time, it is likely to help some take the next step, as it becomes more enjoyable for them to develop their skills and interests. Get volunteers to help run the training, drawing on their experience so far. Use training as an ‘attractor’ in its own right.
   
   
4. Begin introducing a process where volunteers gather to review the days, and especially to talk about the individual children, what are their needs, who needs more attention, what can we do to help this child grow? This taps into the volunteers’ deeper motivations by getting them to focus on why they are doing this work in the first place. Out of this process they can become more engaged in suggesting solutions and become more committed to the kids. This is the key to the growth of the volunteers, not trying to get them more committed to the mechanics of running the buddies days, but getting them more committed to the children they are trying to help.
   
   
5. This process of gathering to review the work is in fact the establishment of a de facto conference. It is discovering the rationale for conferences and full membership from the ‘inside out’.
   
   
6. Down the track there is a further role for volunteers to provide a ‘support network’ to organise this training and review, to help with overall support and coordination. They take on the roles that usually depend entirely on staff at the beginning.
   
   
7. Staff remain involved throughout this process but shift progressively to a more ‘qualitative’ role. At the same time they might be able to start the process again in a new area.